"Homophobia is more pronounced in individuals with an unacknowledged attraction to the same sex and who grew up with authoritarian parents who forbade such desires, a series of psychology studies demonstrates."

"Individuals who identify as straight but in psychological tests show a strong attraction to the same sex may be threatened by gays and lesbians because homosexuals remind them of similar tendencies within themselves," explains Netta Weinstein, a lecturer at the University of Essex and the study's lead author.

The study is the first to document the role that both parenting and sexual orientation play in the formation of intense and visceral fear of homosexuals, including self-reported homophobic attitudes, discriminatory bias, implicit hostility towards gays, and endorsement of anti-gay policies. Conducted by a team from the University of Rochester, the University of Essex, England, and the University of California in Santa Barbara, the research will be published the April issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2012)

Comment by K B Napier:

This argument, if it can be called that, is indeed old-hat. I remember literally laughing in the faces of consultant psychiatrists in the 1970's who used it!

It is such a stupid thing to say. Why not say that a man who is horrified by a murder is himself a closet murderer?

Or why not say that someone who hates smoking is a closet smoker? Or that a hatred for drowning shows you are a closet drowner?

Come off it!! This is the very bottom of the homosexual pit, unworthy of even being quoted! 'Junk science' indeed!!